Neill - I'm no bad boy

The Blackburn Rovers full back has been at the eye of a simmering storm between rival managers Graeme Souness and Gerard Houllier since last week's rash, lunging tackle on Carragher.

Liverpool boss Houllier branded Neill 'a coward' but the Australian's manager Souness has fiercely defended his player and accused the Frenchman of not boasting sufficient top-level playing experience to comment on the tackle.

Houllier and Souness are still locked in a bitter war of words but Neill is determined to put the matter behind him.

Neill insists his tackle on Carragher was not malicious and he is anxious for his reputation not to be tarnished in the aftermath of the ugly challenge.

"I just hope that I'm not considered the bad boy of football," Neill told Sydney radio station 2KY. "They're trying to drag my name through the mud.

"But if there's another 50-50 situation I'm going to go in and I'm going to go in committed and hard. I'm not going to go in to hurt anybody. I'm going to go in and tackle and win the ball for my team and I stand by that.

"At no stage whatsoever did I premeditate that I was going to injure the lad. I've just gone in and won the ball but I've probably gone in a little bit over-zealously."

Carragher faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines with the broken leg but Neill claims the England international has accepted his apology for the incident.

He continued: "I spoke to him at half-time and said; 'Listen, I'm really sorry, I honestly didn't mean to hurt you'.

"And he said; 'Yeah, fine, I've no problem with it'."